Lubricant compressor



` Oct. 18, 1927. E. W. D AVIS LUBRICANT COMPRESSOR Filed Juri@ 1s. 1924NN @Nk Patented Oct. 18, 1927.

UNITED STAT-ES lPATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST W. DAVIS, F OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BASSICK MANUFAC-TUBING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF`DELAWARE.

, Application filed June 16, 1924. Serial No. 720,467.

My invention relates to improvements in lubricant compressors, and isparticularly concerned with, though not limited to, the

. provision of a novel type of lubricant como pressor for delivering,under comparatively high pressures and in comparatively largequantlties, lubricant of the character used for lubricating the bearingsfor the crank pins andconnecting'rod pins of locomotives. l0 Thislubricant is almost a' solid, being approximately of the sameconsistency as' ordinary laundry soap, and requires considerablepressure for ejecting it from a com'- pressor, and additional pressurefor forcing l- `it into the bearings to be lubricated.

A shingle lubrication of a locomotive requires a considerable quantityof this lubri- `cant, and if acompressor is made large enough to hold asuiiicient quantity of lubricant completely to lubricate -a locomotive,

diilioulty isexperienced in obtaining sufficient pressure upon thelubricant.v If the compressor is made smaller in diameter so as to makeit possible easily to exert the necessary pressure upon the lubricant,the

` .length of time consumedin refilling the compressor is objectionable.

The objects of my present invention are,

. First, to provide a compressor of the character described of suchconstruction that .pressures suiciently high for the urpose intended maybe easily and quick y lproduced; l

Second, to provide a compressor, such as 86 described, which can beeasily and quickly reloaded or refilled, and

Third, to provide a compressor` which is lsiinple in construction,economical to manufacture, and easy to operate. A Y 40 Other objects ofmy invention will appear as this description progresses, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which K Figure 1 is a centrallongitudinal section through a lubricant compressor vembodying myinvention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional detail taken .on line 2-2 of Figure 3;Figure 3 is an end view of the split nut forming a part ofmy compressor;

Figure 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 5; l

Figure 5 is a side elevation of one end of u thx1 barrel forming a partof my compressor,

an v.

only the portions B. The ope Figure 6 is an end view of the removablecap for closing the end of the compressor through which it is refilled.

, Throughout ,the several views, similar reference characters will beused for referring to similar parts.

Referring to the drawings', my improved compressor comprises thecylindrical barrel' 10, which is preferably small in diameter so thatthe pressure exerted upon the lubricant 65 contained therein will havecomparatively high value per unit area. One end of the barrel is closedby the conically shaped cap 11 having the' body member 12 formed in4tegrally therewith. This body member is provided. with a bore 13communicating, through the passageway 14, with the space 15 in the cap11, and 1n this manner with the barrel 10. A pair of spaced flanges 16(only one of which is shown) formed in- Ltegrally with the body member12, adjacent one end of the bore, providewell known means forestablishing connection between the compressor and a.- tting of Wellknown construction fadapted to be secured to a bearing to be lubricated.A cup leather 17 and a gasket 18, slidably mounted in the bore 13,provide means for sealing the connection between the compressor and atting.

A compression spring 19, confined betweenv the cup leather 17 and theinner end of the plug 20, yieldingly holds the cup leather 17 in itsoutermost position. The construction -of the coupling member justdescribed is well known to those skilled in this art, forms 90 no partof my present invention, and for that 'reason will not be described morein detail.

threaded, but the threads occupying the spaces A (see Fig. 6) are cutaway, leaving 105 n end ofthe barrel is externally threaded, and thisthread is similarly cut away, leaving the spaces C and the threadedportions D.- The spaces C on the barrel are designed to recelve thethreaded portionsA B ofthe cap,lso that the cap can bemovedsubstantially to the -position shown in Figure 1, and then, by g1v1ng itaquarter turn, the threaded portions B of the cap can be brought intocomplete 'engagement with the threaded portions D of vthe barrel,thereby 'locking-the. cap tothe barrel. The means that I'have justdescribed rfor locking the cap to the barrel are similar to the breechlocking means employed in artillery and will hereafter be referred to as-breech lock 4means or mechanism. By employing su mechanism, it ispossible quickly andl easily to secure the cap 21 to the barrel in suchmanner as to withstand very large pressures tending to separate thesetwo elements. v

The inner end of the piston rod 23-terminates in a piston that may be ofany desired construction, but which ispreferably of the constructionshown herein or some equivalent thereof. This piston comprises the twoheavy disc-shaped rings 24 between which are confined the antifrictionelements- 25, the cup leather 26 and face plate 27, all

of which are centrally apertured and cnfined upon the reduced -endportion 23 of the piston rod 'by means of the washer 28 and the nut 27.Theouter end of the piston rod 23 is provided with a handle 29 ofsubstantial length to enable the operator easily to rotate the pistonrod 23. A

For advancing the piston rod when it is rotated by means of the handle29, I-'provide a split nut comprising the two halves 30,

the inner portions of which are screw threaded, as shownat 31, forco-acting with the .external threads of the piston rod. Eachl vhalf 30of the split nut is provided'with a pair of spaced lugs 32 havingaligned openings 33 formed therein for receiving the .f pivot pins 34.Thesejpins extend` transversely of the cap, 21 and have their endsanchored in the wallso the latter.4 The peripheries of the two portions'of the split. 4nut are cam-shaped, that is, they taper t0- ward theirinner ends, as shown at 35, so as to .permit the easy entry of the innerend of the nut into the barrel when the cap is applied thereto. As thecap is moved onto the end yof the barrel, the cam-shaped surfaces of thenut will force the twohalves toward each other, thereby bringing thethreads 31 of the nut into c-acting relation with the threadsof thepiston rod.

Compression springs 3,6 are confined between the two halves of the nut,their ends being received in the cup-shaped depressions 37 formed in theopposed faces of the two halves of the nut.- When the cap 21 is lremovedfrom the barreljlO, these compression springs disengage the two halvesof lthe nut from the piston rod and enable the latter to be1 moved withreference to the cap 21 until the inner one of theA races 24 is broughtinto substantial contact with the' endof the nut. In this manner, all ofthe parts of the compressor can easily and -quickly be brought refillingof the barrel 10.

My inventioncontemplates providing lubricant in the shape of cylindricalrods of substantially the/same diameter as the inner diameter of thebarrel 10; When the cap 21 is disengaged from the barrel and theassociated/piston and piston rod are removed therefrom, the operator caninsert a rod or 4stick of lubricant into the barrel and then quicklyrestore the parts to the position shown in Figure 1, except that thepiston will occupy a position adja/cent the inner end "of the nut.

By means of the construction just de scribed, the operator can veryquickly remove the'cap,pisto n and piston rod from the barrel andretract the piston rod inthe =into the position they must occupy uponthe cap. He can then easily and quickly replace' the cap and itsassociated parts so that the operation of refilling the compressoroccupies but very little time. By making Vthe di-'v ameter of the barrelcomparatively small, it is possible for the operator easily to subjectthe lubricant to comparatively high pressures. This combination ofelements affords a compressor structure that is particularlyadapted forthe purpose described above, but

it should be clearly understood that my compressor can be used forsupplying lubricant of more plastic character, or even liquid lubricant,to bearings', and that the novel fea- -loo tures.of my compressor are ofalmost equal importance with lubricants of such char-V acter. v

While AI have described the details' of con- I struction of thepreferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that my in:vention is not-limited to these details,vbut is capable of otheradaptations and modifica-` i tions 'within the scope ofthe' appendedclaims. y Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claini isz, Y

1'. A lubricant compressor comprising a barrel having a coupling memberrigidly secured to one end, a cap for closing the oppositeend of saidbarrel, said" cap and barrel having co-.acting breech lock means 'for xdetachably securing 'said cap to said barrel',

said barrel, a threaded piston rod slida-bly' mounted in said cap, apiston carried by the inner end of said piston rod, and a split nut, theparts of said nut being pivotally mounted on said cap andhaving camsurfaces for movingsaid parts into engagement with said piston rod whensaid cap is attached to said barrel. s`

3. A lubricant compressor comprising a Lbarrel, a' piston rod, a pistonin said barrel on the end of said rod, a detachable cap for said barrel,and means carried by said cap and automatically moved by putting saidcap in place for establishing a screw threaded connection betweensaidjrod and said barrel. i

4. A lubricant compressor comprising a barrel, a piston rod, a piston insaid barrel on the lend of said rod, a quick detachable r cap for saidbarrel, and means carried by cientv of the threads of both said cap andsaid cap and automatically moved by putting said cap in place forestablishing a 'screw threaded connection between said rod and saidbarrel. n

5. In a device of the class described the combination of a barrel for alubricant comy pressor, said barrel 'being externally threaded at itsend, a cap having threads complementary to the threads on said barrel,suiiibarrel being 'cut away so that-thev cap may be rotated 'sutantially90 to disenga e said threads anV moved axially from sald barrel, apiston rod carried by said lca said piston rod being provided with threas adapted to slide through said cap, a plurality of cam-shaped memberscarriedy by said cap and having complementary surfaces to engage thethreadson said piston rod, wherevpressor, said barrel being externallythreaded atits end, av cap havlng threads comple'- mentaryto the threadson said barrel, suiii- 50 cient of the threads of both said cap andH gbarrel being cut away so that the cap may be rotated substantially saidthreads and moved axially from said barrel, a piston rod carried by saidcap, said piston rod being provided with threads adapted 'to slidethrough said cap, andf a plurality of cam-shaped members carried by said'cap and having complementary surfaces to engagetheJ threads on saidpiston rod, whereby said cam members are cammed into engagement withsaid piston rod when said caplis placed on saidvbarrel.

In wltness-whereof, I hereunto subscribe 'my name this 6th day of June,1924.

ERNEST DAVIS.

90" to disengage

